>Briefly --- thanks in part to the structurally asymmetrical labour market,
>up until the 1970s the Australian labour movement had a long and unique
>history of political strength, which had resulted --- inter alia --- in very
>high wage levels and the "arbitration system" of centralised, judicial wage
>fixing and dispute resolution, at both the federal and state levels. This
>obstruction for capital was solved in a unique way: unlike most countries,
>it was the main centre-left party which introduced neo-liberal policies
>here, and the federal Labor [sic, sic, sic] governments of the 1980s and 90s
>were the first to succeed in rolling back the arbitration system, especially
>centralised wage fixing, standard working hours, overtime rates, etc.
>Deregulation has continued steadily since.
So does Australia now have lots of U.S.-style low-wage insecure jobs? How's the working class done by all this dereg?
Doug